Back to Sutton Hoo

For the third year in a row Wargaming the Anglo-Saxons returned to Sutton Hoo 26-27 July.

Our group set up a simple skirmish game using my Valhalla rules which I developed for this event with my grandson helping with the play testing. Barely taking up 1 page of A4, Valhalla gives exciting game which can be picked up very quickly by young and old alike, taking 30-45 mins to play.

The rules maybe freely downloaded from my website here. The individual card-driven turn sequence is borrowed from Fistful of Lead rules.

Our scenario is set after the death of the East Anglian King Rædwald in 624. Taking advantage of the king’s death, East Saxon raiders have been making incursions into the Angle territory of the South Folk. Having rounded up livestock they are making their way back to their ship to sail home. Local warriors have banded together to stop them.

We ran many games over the two days with lots of enthusiastic youngsters joining in along with Mums, Dads and some Grandparents. Some of the games saw intense competition between family members with no quarter given by the younger players to their parents.

The event also included a highly popular painting table.  Several youngsters painted up their own heroes and then brought them to our table to lead their warriors into battle. It was a most enjoyable weekend.

Interest was high with over 800 visitors and I think it was a great introduction to our hobby.